STREET SWEEPERS

STREET SWEEPERS. A "street sweeper" or "street cleaner" may refer to a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets. A street sweeper cleans the streets, usually in an urban area. (1)

Street sweepers have been used in cities since sanitation and waste removal became a priority. A street-sweeping person would use a broom and shovel to clean off litter, animal waste and filth that accumulated on streets. Later, water hoses were used to wash the streets. Machines were created in the 19th century to do the job more efficiently. Today, modern street sweepers are mounted on truck bodies and can vacuum debris that accumulates in streets. (2)

The very first street sweeping machine was patented in 1849 by its inventor, C.S. Bishop. Brooks' design, far from being the "first street sweeper," was just a variation of what already existed, and the patent for it was among the more than 300 street sweeper patents issued in the United States before 1900. Most 19th-century sweepers, including the one in Brooks' patent, were horse carts with no engine. The wheels on the cart turned gears or chains which drove the brush and belt. The first self-propelled sweeper vehicle patented in the United States, driven by a steam engine and intended for cleaning railroad tracks, was patented in 1868, patent No. 79606. Eureka C. Bowne was the first known woman to get a patent for a street sweeper, in 1879, patent No. 222447. (3)

The goal of simple debris removal did not change until the 1970s, when policymakers became concerned for water quality. In the United States, the lag time in which street sweepers responded can be pinpointed to the Runoff Report of 1998. As older street sweepers were only effective in removing large particles of road debris, small particles of debris remained behind in large quantities. The remaining debris was not seen as an aesthetic issue because rain washed them away. Today, small particles are known to carry a substantial portion of the storm water pollutant load. (4)

Street sweeping can be an effective measure in reducing pollutants in stormwater runoff. The Environmental Protection Agency considers street sweeping best practice in protecting water quality. Newer street sweepers are capable of collecting small particles of debris. Many street sweepers produced today are PM10 and PM2.5 certified, meaning that they are capable of collecting and holding particulate matter sized less than 10μm and even down to 2.5μm. Despite advancements in street sweeping technology, the mechanical broom type street sweeper accounts for approximately 90 percent of all street sweepers used in the United States today. (5)

In 1895 the city received propositions from the F. C. Austin and A. Wander manufacturing companies to provide street sweepers to the city. (6) In 1897 the Dubuque committee on streets was approached by a representative of the Kelly street sweepers. The company proposed that their sweeper be given a test in the city and it satisfactory the machine would be purchased for $700 payable in three installments. The proposal passed despite a suggestion that nothing be done until hickory brooms were tried in the old sweeper. (7)

In 1902 the J. L. Halcomb Manufacturing Company provided the city with one dozen street sweepers for the road department at a cost of $7.50. (8)

The street committee in 1903 were shown a proposed uniform to be worn by street sweepers. Made of white cloth, the uniform came with a helmet to protect the worker from the sun. The purpose of the uniform was to protect the city employees from injury. The bright white color was thought to alert the general public and "there would not be as much danger of being run down as formerly. (9) This preceded by two years the plan to utilize a similar attire for street sweepers in Chicago. (10) While not mentioned as a problem in Dubuque, street sweepers in New York in 1904 were suffering from tuberculosis caused, it was believed, by constantly breathing the dust of the streets. To prevent further cases, disinfectants were added to the water used to sprinkle the pavement. (11)

The Telegraph-Herald took up the issue of dust, without the mention of disease, in 1911. Citing dust deposited in the nostrils, ears, and mouth of passersby, on clothing, and on the buildings abutting the streets being swept, the newspaper requested the street department to send sprinkling wagons ahead of the sweepers. (12) The suggestion preceded by at least one year the "squeegee method" used in Milwaukee. There a machine sprinkled the street and then scraped the dirt to the side. (13) The increased amount of paving being done in the community was expected to double the number of men required when street sweeping resumed in the spring. (14)

A committee of the whole of the entire city council devoted an afternoon to a test of street sweepers being promoted to the city by various businesses. (15)

In 1917 the editorial department of the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald again addressed the issue of clean streets. Employing the best known street sweepers, the paper, contended still left dust and dirt in crevices "to be tossed up by the first gust of wind." If sufficient water was used to flush the streets, as had been proposed, the complaints would be "heard no more." "Neither will pedestrians be compelled to seek doctors to dig the dirt out of their eyes if more than a breeze blows." (16)

The city manager was instructed by the city council in 1932 to inspect two types of street sweepers then in use. Provision had been made in the city budget for the new year to pay one-third of the cost of the new equipment with the estimated total to be $6,500. (17)

Motorists forgetting police department orders prohibiting night parking on downtown streets found tickets on their cars in 1937. The sweeper operated on Bluff from 15th to Jones Street every Friday morning from 2:00 to 6:00 a.m.; on Main and Locust STREETS from 17th to Jones every morning from mid-night until 2:00 a.m., and on Iowa Street from 17th Street to 1st Street every morning, Sundays excepted, from mid-night until 2:00 a.m. (18)

Tickets again appeared on cars in 1946 when violations of a no-parking ban after mid-night were found. On the first night of the ban an estimated 250 tickets were issued. Offenders received a warning, but were not fined. Once the collection of leaves by street sweepers was completed the ban was lifter. (19)

As a result of the positive response to the Chamber of Commerce's "Let's Clean Up Dubuque and Keep It Clean" in 1952, a City Beautification Committee proposed a year around campaign. As part of it, the city followed through on its own recommendations by sending street sweepers through downtown alleys for the first time in history. Some downtown streets were also swept on Sunday mornings. (20)

The city owned two street sweepers in 1958. Those along with two loaders and a new "litter gitter" were used for leaf pickup in 1958. Residents only had to rake their lawns and pile the leaves in curbside piles for collection. (21) In 1978 it was estimated that street sweepers picked up enough leaves during the annual raking season to cover the block-square ground floor of the Locust Street parking ramp to a height sufficient to cover most car rooftops. (22)

Along with leaves, one of the recurrent issues facing street sweepers was the annual scourge of FISHFLIES. Usually moving into town after dark toward bright lights, the flies caused street sweepers to be dispatched during the night. Mirroring an idea present years before, a street flusher in 1964 was used to wash the bugs from the streets and sidewalks into gutters. (23)

More than 11,000 curb miles were swept by Dubuque's street sweepers in 2004 and 1,693 tons (or 757 truckloads) of material were collected. (24)

In 2015 the City of Dubuque owned three street sweepers with two on the streets daily. The third was used for spring and fall sweeping and on the city's asphalt milling program. The two sweepers each clean approximately 50 miles of street gutter each day. When parked cars block the sweeper, it moves to the center of the street. While most debris is found in the gutter, the sweeper is able to find some amounts of dirt, broken glass, and other material in the center roadway to make sweeping efficient. (25)

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Source:

1. "Street Sweeper," Wikipedia, Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_sweeper

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. "City Council," The Dubuque-Herald, November 12, 1895, p. 3

7. "City Council," The Dubuque-Herald, September 21, 1897, p. 3

8. "List of City Warrants," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, October 5, 1902, p. 10

9. "Hoffman Reports," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, April 26, 1903, p. 21

10. "White Wing School Chicago's Latest Plan to Make Town 'Spotless,'" Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, June 11 1913, p. 1

11. "To Check Scourge," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, May 7, 1904, p. 1

12. "The Dust Nuisance," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, March 2, 1911, p. 4

13. "White Wing School Chicago's Latest Plan..."

14. "Street Sweepers Busy," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, August 17, 1914, p. 8

15. "To Test Sweepers," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, May 10, 1915, p. 13

16. Editorial, Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, March 29, 1917, p. 11

17. "City Budget Adopted as It Was Published," Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal, March 30, 1932, p. 5

18. "100 More Given Parking Tickets," Telegraph-Herald, Nov. 2, 1937, p. 10

19. "Leaf Removal Job Finished by City," Telegraph-Herald, November 14, 1946, p. 2

20. "Make Cleanup Year 'Round," Telegraph-Herald, May 13, 1952, p. 9

21. "City Leaf Pick-Up Schedule Begins with New Month," Telegraph-Herald, October 27, 1958, p. 2

22. 'Tis the Season to Burn Leaves," Telegraph Herald, October 10, 1978, p. 4

23. "Fish Flies Here in Force Again," Telegraph-Herald, July 3, 1964, p. 2

24. "Did You Know..." Telegraph Herald, September 28, 2005, p. 52

25. "Ask the TH," Telegraph Herald, August 6, 2015, p. 3